Atomic Rex: Challenge of Gurral

by Matthew Dennion

  When Atomic Rex’s lower jaw hit the arena floor, for a split second it drove his teeth deeper into Gurral’s leg, but when the reptile’s jaws bounced back up, it caused him to loosen his grip and allowed Gurral to extricate his leg from his opponent’s mouth.

  Atomic Rex was beginning to rise when Gurral leapt up and then came crashing down to drive his Impervium-encased back into Atomic Rex’s spine. The force of the blow caused Atomic Rex to lift off the ground and expose his neck. The moment he saw the nuclear theropod’s head lift off the ground, Gurral once again reached over and wrapped his arms around Atomic Rex’s neck. He then rolled back so that he was pulling Atomic Rex’s neck to the point of breaking while keeping his Impervium-encased back on top of Atomic Rex.

  Gurral pulled a little harder on the nuclear theropod’s neck as he whispered to his foe, “I got you now, Rexy. You’re stuck, and you can’t blast me off. Be a good monster and let me snap your neck.”

  The Earth monster knew he had to break this hold or die, and in a show of his own amazing strength, Atomic Rex shifted his arms underneath him and then even with Gurral on his back, the nuclear theropod began to stand. Without the leverage of the ground, Gurral’s hold on the scaly neck didn’t have the same extreme force behind it, giving Atomic Rex the chance to counter.

  When he was fully upright with Gurral still on his back, Atomic Rex threw himself backward, driving Gurral into the ground with the force of their combined weight.

  The impact of the slam forced Gurral to release his grip and allowed Atomic Rex to roll away from the Smasher to the arena wall and regain his feet. Gurral was still on his back when he saw Atomic Rex starting to stand up. The arena champion heard the crowd still chanting his name. The Smasher nodded his head in recognition of their support and rose as well.

  Gurral’s wounded leg continued to bleed and throb with pain as he looked over at Atomic Rex to see that the scales he had torn out of the monster’s jaw had nearly fully healed. He shook his head. “You never stop surprising me. You’re really tough.” He fixed his eyes on the wall Atomic Rex was standing near. “Now, let’s see how well you handle wall-fighting.”

  Gurral ran and threw his shoulder into Atomic Rex, knocking the Earth monster hard against the wall. As Atomic Rex bounced off the metal barrier, Gurral slammed his left shoulder into the kaiju’s neck and pinned the saurian beast to the wall with his head forcefully tilted to an upward angle. Gurral then grabbed Atomic Rex’s right claw with his left hand while using his right hand to continually pummel the radioactive leviathan in the ribs and hip with reverberating punches. With Atomic Rex trapped against the wall in a clinch, all the Earth monster could do was scrape his left claws ineffectively against Gurral’s impenetrable back while Gurral continued to inflict damage to his torso and upper leg.

  The Arena Lords and Allison’s projection were watching from the viewing area above the battleground. Allison turned to the Arena Lord nearest to her as Gurral continued to hold Atomic Rex in a clinch and tear apart his side. “It looks as if Gurral may be in a position to finish this fight.”

  The Arena Lord closest to her nodded. “Indeed, and with the crowd almost exclusively betting on Gurral to win, they are pleased.”

  Allison’s projection looked over to the rest of the Arena Lords as they kept their eyes fixed on another image, while using their bodies to block Allison’s view of it. The nymph giggled as she yelled over to them. “I know your guards are just outside of the room I’m in. Didn’t I tell you that I can just teleport to another location at will?”

  The Arena Lords, who were staring at the image being projected from the room that contained Allison, watched as their guards rushed in only to have Allison open a portal and step into it. With the nymph now lost to them again, her projection turned and walked over to the gathered Arena Lords. “Now that you have proof of what I’ve already told you, do we have to wait for this battle to be over or can we start talking about how we are going to build my army?”

  On the arena floor, Atomic Rex’s entire left side was torn open and covered in blood as Gurral continued to pound on him with his spiked fists and the crowd continued to chant the name of their champion. Gurral soaked in the chants as if they were pure energy and then pushed the nuclear theropod even harder against the arena wall, shouting, “Hurry up and die!” He unleashed an even more devastating punch that managed to break one of Atomic Rex’s ribs.

  Atomic Rex grunted in pain and then responded by using his left hand to grab onto the horn on the right side of Gurral’s head. The Smasher didn’t think anything of the move until he felt his chest and stomach getting warm. He shifted his eyes down to see Atomic Rex’s body starting to exude a light blue glow. Gurral pulled his horn free from Atomic Rex’s grip, but not fast enough to save himself from the coming onslaught.

  Gurral yelled “Crap!” as the Atomic Wave burst out of the saurian kaiju’s body, crashing into him at point blank range and throwing him back against the opposite wall of the fighting ring. His knees buckled as he looked down at his badly burned and bleeding body. A clawed foot slammed into his chest, pinning him to the arena wall as it started to glow again. Gurral brought his forearm down on the leg that was pinning him to the wall, ripping flesh down to the bone, but then the atomic blast crashed into him.

  At that range, and with nowhere to be pushed, the wave of radiation pulsed through his body, hitting the Impervium plating on his back, which reflected the radiation from the blast back through his body once more. Gurral was amazingly tough, but such immense forces pushing outward were not something his body was built to withstand. Pieces of his skin were torn away, showing the burnt muscle beneath.

  Gurral slumped to the ground, his flesh still sizzling. Atomic Rex dropped to one knee in front of him, unable to support its mass with the deep wound Gurral had inflicted. Gurral pushed himself up on shaking hands, and he saw the wound on the stubborn saurian’s leg healing. He also saw that the last blast had destroyed the protective field between the audience and the ring. Another blast would obliterate them all instantly. Just being near this beast for long would overdose them with radiation, killing them all slowly and painfully over the next few years. The crowd’s chants started to die down as they realized their dilemma.

  Gurral was trying to find additional strength within himself when he heard a single voice call out from the crowd. “Save us, Gurral!”

  The lone voice was quickly echoed by other members of the crowd. Within seconds the entire arena was repeating the phrase, and the gladiator was showered with calls of, “Save us, Gurral.”

  The calls once more reminded him of Chris Myers, the new friend he had left behind. The friend who had told him that fighting for something worthwhile, that fighting for the lives of others, was worth more than fighting for people’s pleasure, worth more than dust or any other reward. The friend who Gurral had left behind for his Impervium dust.

  The Smasher shook his head to clear the ringing. He knew he had to end this one way or another in the next few seconds, or thousands would die. He saw Atomic Rex’s leg in front of him beginning to glow blue again as it powered up to unleash a blast that would be the end of an entire audience.

  Gurral clenched his hand into a fist and yelled, “This is for you, Chris!” as he punched Atomic Rex’s in his left knee with all of the strength he could muster from his kneeling position.

  Gurral’s fist shattered Atomic Rex’s knee and caused the nuclear theropod to fall to the ground and onto his injured left side. Gurral raised both fists, even though the pain nearly blinded him, and then he brought them both crashing down upon Atomic Rex’s skull. The sound of bone cracking rang through the arena, and the blue glow faded as Atomic Rex lost consciousness. The crowd cheered more loudly than ever as the kaiju’s head bounced once before settling to the ground to lay still.

  Gurral then collapsed forward onto the ground next to Atomic Rex. The arena champion groaned in pain as he rolled away from Atomic Rex and onto his back.

/>   Both monsters were lying on the arena floor for several seconds, trying to recover from the beatings they had given one another. Gurral could hear the crowd yelling desperately for him to finish the fight. They began to chant “Finish him! Finish him!” and he knew that they had completely forgotten about their bets. They were encouraging him in a last-ditch effort to survive. They needed their champion to put an end to the threat the reptilian nightmare represented to them for good.

  Gurral heard a strange cracking sound coming from Atomic Rex’s body and he looked over to see the kaiju's knee and rib forcing themselves back into place. Gurral’s eyes closed and his head lolled to the side as he tried to find the strength to force himself back to his feet.

  When Gurral opened his eyes, he saw the dimensional portal device lying on the ground next to him. He grabbed the device as Atomic Rex opened his eyes, and began shaking his head. It took one look at the device for Gurral to see that it was damaged, with a busted readout and torn buttons. He couldn’t tell for sure if it was set to the same place, but for sure he knew he wouldn’t be able to change any settings on it. He could only hope that it still functioned at all.

  Gurral had to consider that if he sent this nuclear horror away, it might very well be back to the world where his friend Chris was living. It might be back to where a whole world was just beginning to feel safe.

  Atomic Rex was starting to stand on wobbly legs as Gurral reached out and grabbed the device. The Smasher looked at the crowd and then down at his wrecked body. He wanted to save the crowd, but he didn’t want to drop this demon back into the lap of one of his few real friends.

  The Smasher’s mind raced through scenarios. He could still fight. He might even win, but if he fought Rexy to the finish, then the crowd would die no matter who won. If he sent Atomic Rex away, he had a crushing feeling that it would be directly back to where the scaled terror had come from; back to the world of his friend. He could just leave Atomic Rex here and head back to Earth and live the rest of his life with friends, but then he’d never have the dust again. His hand began to shiver uncontrollably at the thought, and it forced him to make a tough call, overcome his pride, and rise to his feet.

  Gurral’s body ached as he glared at the oncoming kaiju. He closed his eyes and said, “Some other time, Rexy.” He then activated the portal device causing a rift to open up between himself and Atomic Rex. His worst fears were realized as he saw the same beach he’d battled Atomic Rex on previously.

  When the nuclear theropod saw the portal open, he roared and stumbled back from it. The saurian creature knew what the portal was and he had no desire to let it rob him of his prey. As Atomic Rex was backing away, Gurral lumbered around the portal, and rushed the mighty kaiju.

  Gurral punched Atomic Rex in the face, knocking the monster further off balance. He then grabbed Atomic Rex’s leg, and using the last of his energy, he lifted the scaled monstrosity and flung it through the portal. The nuclear theropod fell face first onto the beach he had previously battled Gurral on. Atomic Rex stood up and turned back to the portal, ready to charge back through and destroy the armored goliath. The monster was moving toward the portal when Gurral waved at him and then closed the portal.

  The crowd roared with approval as Gurral closed the portal. The arena patrons were chanting Gurral’s name as he stood in the middle of the arena, weaving on his feet. The champion heard the chants but he found himself unwilling to enjoy them. His thoughts were focused on the fact that he had just sent Atomic Rex back to Chris’ Earth. The physical pain that Gurral felt was nothing compared to the disappointment he felt in himself.

  A droplet of moisture ran down Gurral’s bony cheek, then he sighed. “I need some dust.” His shoulders hung heavily as he staggered towards a med-bay.

  As he was trod away, he dropped the portal device to the floor. The Arena Lord who had been waiting in the freshly torn tunnel through the wall of the ring slowly walked out and picked up the device. He then casually walked over to where the device that had been part of Zeus’ thunderbolt had fallen and grabbed it as well.

  He tucked both devices one beneath each arm and then whispered as he walked away, “Soon nymph, you shall see how manipulative we Arena Lords can be and you shall also learn what it means to cross us.” He then returned to the tunnel Atomic Rex had made and slipped into the shadows.

  Chapter 23

  Arena World

  Gurral awoke to find himself in a huge medical cot. He had eaten well and was afforded a good amount of dust for his battles against Atomic Rex. The Smasher looked down at his chest and he could see that between his natural healing abilities and the med-bots’ ministering he was nearly fully healed. The giant gladiator stood up and stretched out his arms, and as he did so the door to his room opened.

  The human woman with long blonde hair walked into the room and greeted him. “Gurral, the reports of your ability to heal were not exaggerated, I see.” She walked closer to the arena champion. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am…”

  Gurral cut her off. “You’re that nymph the Arena Lords told me about. The one who had me bring Atomic Rex here to wreck the place so you could take control of the Arena Lords’ monsters.”

  The nymph bowed. “That is true. I am now in control of what remains of the facility.”

  Gurral grumbled. “Look, I don’t care who’s in charge of this place.” He bent down and glared at Allison. “I just want to make sure that you’re going to keep to our deal about my retirement. If you don’t, we’re going to have trouble.”

  Allison smiled. “I fully intend to honor our bargain. In fact, I believe when they were in charge of this facility, the Arena Lords were much too stingy with the amount of dust you were given. As we speak, a large shipment of dust is coming along with more food for you.” She walked closer to the Gurral. “The Arena Lords saw you as a creature they could profit from. I see you as someone whose goals can be intertwined with mine in a partnership. You have fulfilled your part of our bargain and I fully intend to more than live up to mine.” The door opened and several workers brought in freshly cooked meat and a large sack of dust.

  Gurral’s mouth watered at the sight of the dust and the pleasure it would bring him. He took a step closer to it when another thought entered his mind. The Smasher took a deep breath at the thought of what his addiction to the dust had recently cost him.

  He stopped walking and looked down at Allison. “How long has it been since I fought Atomic Rex?”

  “It was only yesterday that you gave the arena the greatest battle it has ever held.”

  Gurral kept his eyes fixed on the nymph. “Good. You say that you’re more than ready to live up to our bargain?”

  Allison’s face took a cautious look as she stared at Gurral’s face in an attempt to try to gauge what he was thinking. “Yes.”

  “Then I need to add a few more stipulations to my payment for services rendered to you.”

  Allison nodded and continued to try and advance her agenda with Gurral. “If it’s more dust that you want, I will be happy to provide as much as you desire. Just ask and it’s yours.”

  Gurral nodded. “That’s good, I got a feeling I am going to need more dust when I get back.”

  Allison knew exactly what he was speaking of, but acted otherwise. “Get back from where?”

  Gurral sighed. “I...I need you to send me back to Atomic Rex’s Earth and I also need a sack as big as I can carry filled with mech parts from the loading bays.”

  Allison raised her eyebrows. “You wish to stay on that Earth?”

  Gurral shook his head. “No. It’s just that Atomic Rex is back there now.”

  Allison nodded and replied with, “He definitely is.”

  This steeled Gurral’s resolve. “I have some unfinished business to attend to back there.” He looked over at the sack of dust. “Send me there for a couple of hours then bring me back. After that, I'll be happy to enjoy my retirement, extra dust included.”

  The nymph s
hrugged. “So, you want to make up for sending Atomic Rex back by giving Chris and Kate enough parts to build a few more mechs to fight off Atomic Rex? Oh, don’t act surprised, I keep myself informed everywhere I meddle. Another piece of information you may want to know is that right now Atomic Rex is heading south, away from the settlement, but if you show up, he’s bound to turn around and follow your trail. But if that’s what you wish...” She turned and looked at the workers who had just brought in the food and dust. “Go and prepare the mech parts as he requested.”

  Gurral moved past Allison but his eyes shifted over to the dust. “Wait. I wanna make it up to them real bad, but if they’re safer without me, then I’m not gonna go make things worse.” He sighed. “What if I don’t go back? What if we just leave the mech parts where Chris can find them? Will that draw ol’ Rexy back to the settlement?”

  Allison smiled. “Captain Myers really made an impression on you, didn’t he?” She smiled. “He is quite a man; were he not so principled and devoted to his wife I may have even considered seducing him and adding him to my coalition.” She shrugged. “Very well, if you insist on rewarding the good captain, I shall arrange for the mech parts to be delivered in Japan. The country is kaiju free and outside what Atomic Rex considers as his territory, so if a rift appears there, he will not feel compelled to investigate it. Captain Myers' son should be able to detect the rift and send his father to get the parts. There’s even an old mech building facility there they can utilize to construct new mechs with.” She grinned. “Will those accommodations meet your additional stipulations to your satisfaction?”

  Gurral nodded in reply, swallowing back a lump of emotion at the thought of never being able to talk to the man he’d become friends with again.

  Allison then turned and began walking toward the door. She took a few steps before stopping and looking back over her shoulder at Gurral. “If you change your mind and want to go live on Captain Myers’ Earth, I can always use your portal device to get you back there.”